London's Sunday Times would have us believe that one of the leading contenders for the papacy is a closet Nazi. In if-only-they-knew tones, the newspaper informs readers that German-born Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was a member of the Hitler Youth during World War II and suggests that, because of this, the "panzer cardinal" would be quite a contrast to his predecessor, John Paul II.

The article also classifies Ratzinger as a "theological anti-Semite" for believing in Jesus so strongly that  gasp!  he thinks that everyone, even Jews, should accept him as the messiah.

To all this we should say, "This is news?!" As the Sunday Times article admits, Ratzinger's membership in the Hitler Youth was not voluntary but compulsory; also admitted are the facts that the cardinal  only a teenager during the period in question  was the son of an anti-Nazi policeman, that he was given a dispensation from Hitler Youth activities because of his religious studies, and that he deserted the German army.

Ratzinger has several times gone on record on his supposedly "problematic" past. In the 1997 book Salt of the Earth, Ratzinger is asked whether he was ever in the Hitler Youth.

"At first we weren't," he says, speaking of himself and his older brother, "but when the compulsory Hitler Youth was introduced in 1941, my brother was obliged to join. I was still too young, but later as a seminarian, I was registered in the Hitler Youth. As soon as I was out of the seminary, I never went back. And that was difficult because the tuition reduction, which I really needed, was tied to proof of attendance at the Hitler Youth.

"Thank goodness there was a very understanding mathematics professor. He himself was a Nazi, but an honest man, and said to me, 'Just go once to get the document so we have it...' When he saw that I simply didn't want to, he said, 'I understand, I'll take care of it' and so I was able to stay free of it."

Ratzinger says this again in his own memoirs, printed in 1998. In his 2002 biography of the cardinal, John Allen, Jr. of the National Catholic Reporter wrote in detail about those events.

The only significant complaint that the Times makes against Ratzinger's wartime conduct is that he resisted quietly and passively, rather than having done something drastic enough to earn him a trip to a concentration camp. Of course, whenever it is said that a German failed the exceptional-resistance-to-the-Nazis test, it would behoove us all to recognize that too many Jews failed it, as well.

If he were truly a Nazi sympathizer, then it would undoubtedly have become evident during the past 60 years. Yet throughout his service in the church, Ratzinger has distinguished himself in the field of Jewish-Catholic relations.

As prefect of the Doctrine of the Faith, Ratzinger played an instrumental role in the Vatican's revolutionary reconciliation with the Jews under John Paul II. He personally prepared Memory and Reconciliation, the 2000 document outlining the church's historical "errors" in its treatment of Jews. And as president of the Pontifical Biblical Commission, Ratzinger oversaw the preparation of The Jewish People and Their Sacred Scriptures in the Christian Bible, a milestone theological explanation for the Jews' rejection of Jesus.

If that's theological anti-Semitism, then we should only be so lucky to "suffer" more of the same.

As for the Hitler Youth issue, not even Yad Vashem has considered it worthy of further investigation. Why should we?

Ratzinger was born in Marktl am Inn, in Bavaria, the son of a police officer who was staunchly anti-Nazi. In 1937 Ratzinger's father retired and settled in the town of Traunstein. When Ratzinger turned 14 in 1941, he was required by law to join the Hitler Youth , but according to his biographer John Allen he was not an enthusiastic member. In 1943, at the age of 16 he was, along with the rest of his class, drafted into the Flak or anti-aircraft corps, responsible for the guarding of a BMW plant outside Munich. He was then sent for basic infantry training and was posted to Hungary, where he worked setting up anti-tank defences until he deserted in April 1944 (an offence punishable by death). In 1945 he was briefly held in an Allied POW camp. By June he was released, and he and his brother (Georg) entered a Catholic seminary. On June 29, 1951, they were ordained by Cardinal Faulhaber of Munich. His dissertation (1953) was on Saint Augustine, his Habilitationsschrift (second dissertation) on Saint Bonaventure.

I agree. I heard about the publicity surrounding this issue yesterday, to my dismay. It is important that we are aware of what really occurred, since the Left will surely try to use this to discredit our new Pope.

15
posted on 04/19/2005 10:00:54 AM PDT
by trisham
("Live Free or Die," General John Stark, July 31, 1809)

I can hardly imagine this. I was born in 1983, so John Paul II was the only pope in my lifetime. Even as a Protestant, this is an exciting and historic day. Plus, those who would have the church change so they can feel better are deeply saddened. I love it.:)

16
posted on 04/19/2005 10:01:00 AM PDT
by WinOne4TheGipper
(Democratic Underground- where dim wits go to be impressed by the intellect of half wits.)

The "Pope Benedict" name has an interesting history for today, as the previous Pope Benedict attempted to mediate an end to the horrors of the stalemated trench warfare of the First World War that killed an entire generation of French, British, Germans, and Russians.

A war that was only able to be ended by a mobile American Army, going all the way over to Europe to do what the Europeans themselves could not.

So such a Pope's name recognizes the current global war on terror, America's role, and what part the Church should play.

32
posted on 04/19/2005 10:12:18 AM PDT
by Southack
(Media Bias means that Castro won't be punished for Cuban war crimes against Black Angolans in Africa)

I know very little about Pope Benedict XVI, but judging by the way the Dummies are acting, it sounds like he is quite the conservative. Does anyone have any links that give details of his stance on abortion, homosexuals, and other issues facing the church?

And John Paul, who lived under the Nazi boot, would not have trusted Ratzinger, had he believed he was a Nazi sympathizer. If Ratzinger were more liberal, you wouldn't have heard one word about his "alleged" Nazi past from the MSM.

37
posted on 04/19/2005 10:26:12 AM PDT
by dfwgator
(Minutemen: Just doing the jobs that American politicians won't do.)

And as president of the Pontifical Biblical Commission, Ratzinger oversaw the preparation of The Jewish People and Their Sacred Scriptures in the Christian Bible, a milestone theological explanation for the Jews' rejection of Jesus.

Too bad that as president of the Pontifical Biblical Commission he couldn't engage in an "ecumenical" defense of Biblical inerrancy and the Divine authoriship of the Torah. But I've commented so many times on this ironic situation ("philosemitism" going hand in hand with liberal Biblical theories) that I don't know what more to say on the subject.

As for hitting Ratzinger over the head with belonging to a compulsory government organization for young people, isn't that (compulsory national service) something the liberals have been advocating for decades?

PS: I will rejoice at "Catholic-Jewish relations" when the Vatican admits that G-d wrote the Torah.

Liberal Leftist press strikes again--they just can't stomach someone with strong moral convictions leading the oldest and the largest institution on earth--Catholic Church. They would like to see "Progressive" (read radical revolutionary) instead of solid moral Conservative at the helm of every institution, including a religious one. We've already seen how out-of-control leftist liberalism can jeopardize the authority of the church. Episcopal Church in America is a perfect example of what happens when timeless truth is discarded in favor of popular sensibilities of the time.

Being drafted against his will to Hitler Youth and then to Wermaht (which he deserted in 1944), does not make Ratzinger (Benedict XVI) a Nazi. Anyone who is more or less familiar with the way totalitarian regimes work, should not blame him. As long as he did nothing terribly wrong, I have absolutely no problem with it.

I wish the New Pope all the best. I hope he will continue John Paul II legacy of reaching out to the world while standing firm on the ground of timeless values of human dignity and responsibility before each other and before God--transcendent and invisible. I hope for more steps toward Orthodox-Catholic reconcilliation and more aggressive stance against moral relativism, leftism, sexual promiscuity, "progressivism", Anti-Semitism and other destructive ideologies that endanger the moral integrity and the very survival of the Western Civilization.

I worked for a East German over 25 years ago in Colorado. He readily admitted being in the Hitler Youth, but added that there was really no choice in the matter. To decline brought undo attention to oneself and one's family from the Nazis.

I find it amazing that compulsory membership in the Hitler youth while one was 14 or 15 is fodder for the liberals, yet a man who was an adult Klan leader gets a pass as a Senate leader.

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